“Happy and successful cooking doesn't rely only on know-how; it comes from the heart, makes great demands on the palate and needs enthusiasm and a deep love of food to bring it to life.”
- Georges Blanc, Ma Cuisine des Saisons!

May 30, 2008

Dabeli and Dabeli Masala are my entries to MBP, which is guest hosted by Supriya of "Monsoon spice" this month with a theme of "Street Food".Coffee of "The Spice Cafe" blog is the founder and creator of "Monthly blog patroling". Idea of this event is to patrol the blogs for dishes which suits the monthly theme and cook from other blogs to appreciate their recipes. Thanks Supriya and Coffee, enjoy the Dabelis!:)

Chaat or Street food:As much as we enjoy and appreciate our traditional Indian homecooked food, Indians are also great lovers of Street carts filled with great crunchy munchies which spring up every corner of the cities as soon as Sun goes down or even before or permanently settled in little shacks by the roadside all day and any day.My favorite "food group" is always been Chaat or "lip smacking tangy, spicy street cart food" as it exactly means. So far, I have recreated most of the Street cart foods at home although I have blogged very few. This time I wanted to make a chaat I haven't tasted before and choose one from a blog I haven't cooked from so far!Dabeli is one chaat I have not tasted either on the street or at home since I always thought it probably taste like Pav Bhaji which I make at home often, so why bother making the same, until the magic of MBP stepped in and left me no choice but to try. Boy, did I get lucky or what! :DI know many of you have blogged Dabeli, I chose to make Rricha Nimisha's Dabeli version and made Dabeli Masala from Trupti's blog. It tasted like Heaven, will be making more soon using proper Pavs or rolls as it should be made but this middle Eastern bread I used was great for making Dabeli too! :)

Dabeli Masala:Click on the links to see both the original recipes and their photos. Enjoy!

I chose to make Dabeli Masala from Trupti of "Recipecenterforall" blog since Rricha's recipe for Dabeli didn't use any. I didn't want to make too much of Dabeli masala at first because I thought it might taste just like Pav Bhaji masala which I already have but NO!This masala is totally different from Pav Bhaji masala and was fragrant, easy and very tasty and very different added to Dabeli Potato masala!Thank you for posting this wonderful recipe Trupti. I will be making more of this next time! :)Dabeli:I chose Dabeli (spicy crunchy masala stuffed and pressed together inside the bread rolls or Pavs) recipe from Rricha Nimish's blog. You can see her Dabeliswith Pavhere.I didn't have the regular dinner roll or Pav to make this but I did bake some Middle eastern/Lebanese bread called "Khoubiz" last weekend, similar to Italian Focaccia, used it to make Dabeli toasted thick wedges sliced across. Dabeli tasted divine with this bread too!:)

To make Dabeli, you need to get all these together too:I used to readymade bottled Mint and cilantro chutney and tangy Tamarind sauce or Delhi Chaat sauce, salted and peppered Beer peanuts, Sev or Bhujia, chopped sweet onions or red onion, Potato masala mashed with Dabeli masala, chopped green onions and Cilantro with a slice of Lemon. Some Pomegranate seeds too as the original recipe says. Traditionally, Dabelis are stuffed in Pavs or square bread rolls.

Ready for you! Help yourself!!:)

Enjoy!!

*****************************************************************************************************************************Here is a fun event if you are looking for some laughs!!Lakshmi G of "Taste Of Mysore" has come up with theme of "creating a comic strip" which involves Brinjal/Eggplants this month. Idea is to create a comic using a Comix or any other similar website and post it in your blogs. She will do the round up which will be hilarious to read! Thanks LG, have fun and can't wait to see the round up!:))

Well..Brinjal? What a great theme I thought, my favorite veggie! I didn't know where to go for making comic strip but LG immediately linked the site and also e mailed me all the info for making one, which set me rolling.Although my kids don't mind eating Eggplant dishes once in a while since I don't get to buy Indian Brinjals in other seasons unless of course I drive 20+ miles to a Indian store to get them. I LOVE Brinjals though, could eat Eggplant dishes almost everyday!:)Every Summer, I make sure to plant a few without a fail and by August, we will be harvesting loads of Eggplants and cook almost 3 days a week since Eggplants don't freeze well. That's when my kids' gets very antsy and want to get rid of all the Brinjal plants as soon as possible. When we clean up our veggie patch in the Fall, they really do a happy dance!! Hahaha!!

Saga of Eggplant:These comic strips are not transferable from the website to blogs or anywhere except to any e mail addresses. I had to take a photo of my laptop screen to post here! :PYou can see the "comix"strip I created more clearlyhere.

Here is how it goes at dinner time around 6.30pm during the Eggplant bounty season! :D

MOM: (secretly delighted and laughing to herself but not showing it outside) HeeHeeHee! Hahahaha!

Latest news: This year's Eggplants are growing very well in my veggie patch right now to my joy and to kids' frustration!!Son wanted to burn the little plants already!!! ;D

Have a great weekend, see you all next week!:)

(Psst! A very special surprise is planned for Trisha at her high school today at 10am in the auditorium and it's a well kept secret betn parents, Principal and staff! I will be there today and will tell you all about it next week! I will catch up with all of you in the afternoon when I come back home!)I am back and catching up now!!:))

thanks ashakka for this lovely entry. thank you:) i remember eating it almost daily during my stay in dharwad bit funniily i never knew its name;) they use pav buns for making it. enjoy ur day at Trisha's school:) i am so glad to know abt her. best wishes for her bright future.

great job on the comic! and the dabeli looks lip-smacking!! and hope Trisha gets a wonderful surprise from you all...have a great day..and secrets, I cant contain my curiosity!!! cant wait to know what it is! :-)

ahhahaha that is funny...i can imagine..am sure many parents go thru this...:)...i love chaat...but i have never heard of dabeli but looks so good and yummm...Eagerly waiting to hear the suprise for trisha:)...

Ashakka,Ahahhahhaa..I am rolling here with laughter and imagining the dinner scene at home. Awesome entry. Thanks for participating. Dabeli looks yumm too.Have tasted it in Ahmedabad so well virtually imagining the taste. Ya..and looking forward to that surprise about Trisha.

Asha I have to be honest I have never had this dabeli in my whole lofe. When i saw the post I was curious to know what it was.Looks so delicious. When I am going to India in jully I am going to have this for sure.Can't wait to know what you all planned for Trish.Hey and does Asha Mom alwaus wear pony tail as i remember she had short hair in the real pic :-)

That is lovely mouthwatering Dabeli! Cannot wait and see the surprise, hope u r having fun with Trish in school today!The comic: I can imagine how often u cook brinjal in a week, so ur son is ready to burn right away!

Dabeli looks really good asha. Its funny, even in remote places in Gujarat you will find somebody selling dabeli topped with peanuts and pomegranate seeds. Best of luck and congratulations to your whiz kid!

I LOVE dabeli!! And yours looks delicious! The bread looks lovely! Loved your eggplant conv with the kids! :) Enjoy your day at Trisha's school. Are you dreading her heading off to college soon? I was telling N that we should move to the town next to M's when she finally settles! He thought that was funny that I was looking so far ahead & being a "sticker mom" as a friend said. But it is so difficult to let go, na?

Ahh, my first comment dint go thru it looks like. Dabeli looks just wonderful Asha, I loved the presentation, looks like upscale restaurant ishtyle :)..Lol at the comic strip..I can picture myself in the kids places when I was young, not for eggplant but for few other veggies. How can anybody not like eggplant rite ?? Great post..

I have never had this before, but it definitely looks like somthing I'd love! Am bookmarking it. Advance congrats to Trisha! Sounds like she's put in a lot of hard work. Great to hear that she's got a surprise coming! :)

Vani, it's true,it's very hard specially with daughters. We tend to talk and share more with them than with boys.I will miss my son's hugs and "how are you doin' mama? Did you eat?", every evening when he comes back from school.I don't know whether you read FH this week, Trisha will be in college a early in Aug but as a commuter High school student. Aug 2009, she will move out, probably to Chapel Hill. I don't think they want you and hubby sticking around her when she is in college! Hahaha!:)

Sri, you have full time job outside and take care of kids and home too. I admire you for that.So, even if you are the last one, I don't mind! Hugs to you. We came home around luch time,got some pics but it was darkish on the stage, didn't get good ones. I will post later!:)

Trupti, Masala was really different from Pan Bhaji masala, loved it. I made a small amount just to try, will make more now.Thanks!:))

Hahahahha!! Okay Bee! Tushar is flying there today! Feed him all kinds of gourds you grow there for a week and then he will run back to me again! I know you hate those purple thingies!:DTrisha was officially inducted to "exclusively young brainy nerdy society of USA" today, one of the 13!:))

You are welcome A. loved the masala and with all those sides, it will be yummy. Try it!:)

Thanks Ramya. Yeah, came home from school, had a headache, took a nap and now I am okay! It's so hot outside today!:))Trisha loved it, will post pics at FH!:)

Mansi,please post the Dabeli Masala and Dabeli too, your style! This was great but coming from your MIL must be really authentic. You can make Dabeli and post for us someday, love to try it because I have never tried eaten Dabel outside at all. Hope you do! Enjoy the weekend, will post pics at FH, still in the camera!:)

Anu, seems like very few of us haven't tasted the Dabeli at all. I would love to taste fro street cart!:)

We did Pooja, came back and relaxing now.Enjoy your weekend!:))

Laavanya, that's what I say too!:DI am sure they will miss my Indian food. Trisha is planning to stay in NC for college, so will not be that far, got to make a trip every month or so!:))Stage was not that bright, so we got just okay photos, will post once cleaned up!:)

Didn't know about Aroma? There is another blog just with photos too, check the sidebar!:DI will check mail this weekend, too busy with all these stuff I do. Weekend evenings are for checking e mails, I will reply to you ASAP! Enjoy the Dabeli and the weekend. Most of you girls have tasted the real Dabeli except few of us! Lucky!:)

But I am, Smita, I am very fatigable!!:DCame home with Trisha's school and had a headache because their cafeteria was hot, took a little nap and am back again! I even had heat stroke in San Antonio Sea World waliking in the shade in June last year! HeeHee!You have eaten Dabeli before too, not fair!:)

SMN, NY, Jayashre, Raaga, Rachel,Namratha, Sagari, TBC,sra thank you very much.Sorry to say that early this morning, came here and deleted your comments instead of publishing them by mistake! I an still sleepy! :D

But tried and recovered the comment page copied part of it. So sorry about that!:)

Oh I haven't heard of Dabeli before... Looks great... and cute cartoon :) BTW, you can use the PrtScn button on your keyboard to take a picture of your whole screen. Use Alt+PrtScn to take a screenshot of just the current window. After doing this, you can open mspaint and do a Ctrl+V, you will have a clear screenshot of the contents of the screen. Then you can crop and resize etc...

Hi Asha, I love the dabeli, looks really delicious! Me too, can't wait for those eggplants... my kids would be just like yours in the comic :) You're really gonna make us wait a whole week for Trisha's surprise!?? Well congrats to the dear gal -- and I will try to find my patience cap ;)

Linda, don't know why kids just don't even try to like them!;DThat post is out at FH, look for the link on the bottom.Girl is done with HS, now a visiting college student. REAL college, dorm etc will come in 2009 Aug!:)

Hahaha! Arun, you are not alone! Most south Indian have not heard or tried this Dabeli unless they have lived in Mumbai!:)Yeah, it was delicious, very different from Pav Bhaji which I make often. Dabeli is made with Pav too, I didn't have it at home. Enjoy!:)

Hi Miri, that's okay girl, Dabeli was my first try. Loved it, more versions are welcome!:))This is an old post. I have posted all the surprise photos at "Life, as it happens" on the bar, check it out!:))

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